Career Focus Fall 2001

5 ways to start your personal career Network

By Cynthia D'Amour

Changing careers, exploring possible options and finding new jobs are all done more easily when you can tap into the experience of other people. Taking classes is a great opportunity to learn new information – and build a dynamite career network.

Your classes give you regular contact with people from outside your normal circle of friends. All you have to do is get your networking started.

Here are five tips for building a career network while you’re taking college classes.

1. Do your personal homework.
To be effective in building your network, you need to set some goals. What careers or industries do you want to learn about? What type of people do you want to meet?

2. Get to classes at least five minutes early.

Your classmates

can offer a

gold mine of

career

information

from exploring

options to

actual job leads.

This is a great time to meet new people. You don’t have to carry on a conversation forever – just for five minutes. An easy way to get a conversation going on the first night of class is to simply introduce yourself and ask why the other person is taking the class. Later on, you might start by asking about an assignment for class.

Note: If some of the people you approach do not seem friendly, do not take it personally. They may be having a bad day. Give them space and talk to someone on your other side.

3. Be good at asking questions.
Be interested in other people’s careers. Ask classmates what they like about their jobs, what the biggest challenge is or how they got into that type of field.

4. Learn about industry resources.
If you identify a career that’s interesting to you, work to uncover more information about the inside industry scoop.

Find out what associations people belong to and what trade publications they read. By asking these questions, you may even discover classmates who are willing to mentor you in their industry.

5. Be willing to give the same information to others.
Networking is a two-way process – the more you give, the more you get. Not in that career job yet? Don’t worry. You can still offer valuable information learned from friends, family and other classes. You have a fresh set of eyes to see ideas that others have overlooked.

Bottom line:

Your classmates can offer a gold mine of career information from exploring options to actual job leads. All you have to do is show up for class and start talking.

Cynthia D’Amour is the author of "Networking: The Skill the Schools Forgot to Teach" and is based in Ann Arbor.

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